Rugby Australia Appoints Tim Walsh as Director of Women’s High Performance

Rugby Australia (RA) has appointed Olympic-winning coach, Tim Walsh, as the new Director of Women’s High Performance.

The appointment triggers the immediate integration of the governing body’s women’s formats, signalling an aggressive, long-term commercial and strategic pivot toward sustained global success on the runway to major upcoming international tournaments.

Under the new appointment, Walsh will oversee the integration of RA’s High Performance blueprint. This restructure will see the national XVs team, the Wallaroos, join the Sevens squad in a full-time combined program based permanently in Sydney.

The timing of the announcement is deeply tied to maximising commercial value and talent retention ahead of a massive decade of sports tourism in the region. The full-time centralisation is deliberately brought in ahead of the home World Cup in 2029, providing corporate partners with a unified, highly recognisable brand identity to sponsor across both formats.

“I am thrilled to continue my career at Rugby Australia and thank Phil and the Board for entrusting me with steering the future direction of our women’s High Performance programs.”

“The opportunity to harness Australia’s elite rugby talent and align the Sevens and XVs formats into one successful system moving forward is a huge step for the organisation.”

“We want to retain, recruit and develop players for sustained success in the global game and the upcoming LA Olympics in 2028 and Rugby World Cup on home soil in 2029 are benchmark events I strongly believe we can achieve great results in,” Walsh said.

Walsh’s immediate operational mandate involves appointing the new Sevens and Wallaroos head coaches, with those key appointments set to be confirmed in the coming weeks. 

Don’t miss out on the latest in sports business – Subscribe today to the free Ministry of Sport newsletter and stay ahead of the game. For even more exclusive insights, event tickets, professional development and networking events, become a MoS Member today!.